Posted on 10/03/2006 5:36:56 PM PDT by LiteKeeper
Church of England leaders warned yesterday that calling God 'He' encourages men to beat their wives.
They told churchgoers they must think twice before they refer to God as 'He' or 'Lord' because of the dangers that it will lead to domestic abuse.
See also... Church leader accuses BBC of bias against Catholic church
In new guidelines for bishops and priests on such abuse, they blamed "uncritical use of masculine imagery" for encouraging men to behave violently towards women.
They also warned that clergy must reconsider the language they use in sermons and check the hymns they sing to remove signs of male oppression.
The recommendation - fully endorsed by Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams - puts a question mark over huge swathes of Christian teaching and practice.
It throws doubt on whether the principal Christian prayer should continue to be known as the Lord's Prayer and begin 'Our Father'.
It means well-loved hymns such as Fight the Good Fight and Onward Christian Soldiers may be headed for the dustbin.
The rules also throw into question the role of the Bible by calling for reinterpretations of stories in which God uses violence.
The guidelines also claim that abuse is common within marriage and says this is because marriage heightens a sense among husbands that they own their wives.
The document prompted an outcry from conservative clergy. They accused the Archbishops' Council, the CofE's cabinet that produced the guidelines, of distorting theology for a 'feminist agenda'. Rod Thomas, a Plymouth vicar and spokesman for the influential evangelical Reform movement, said: "There is a danger that this document has veered too much towards political correctness.
"The Bible says God has both female and male characteristics but it does not feel inhibited about referring to God as male." Simon Calvert of the evangelical Christian Institute think tank, said: "They appear to suggest seriously that we should ditch many centuries of Judaeo-Christian teaching because of some half-baked feminist theory." The guidelines - Responding to Domestic Abuse -say that centuries of Christian teaching have led to "questionable assumptions" about the Bible and moral teaching.
"Domestic abuse is fundamentally an abuse of power, and many conceptions of God derived from the Bible and the Christian tradition have portrayed divine power in unhealthy and potentially oppressive ways,' say the guidelines.
"There are particular problems in the attribution of violent actions and attitudes to God, chiefly but not solely in the Old Testament, which require careful interpretation." The document adds that Biblical violence, 'in combination with uncritical use of masculine imagery, can validate overbearing and ultimately violent patterns of behaviour'.
It quotes a feminist thinker that "If God is male, then the male is God". Calling for the Church to "correct this major imbalance", it says changes must extend to sermons, formal teaching and hymns.
There should, it recommends, be "imagination and sensivity in using potentially problematic language".
"For example, the idea of God as "Lord" may be used in harsh and domineering ways."
Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=408190&in_page_id=1770 ©2006 Associated New Media
And let's not forget that a married couple is far less likely to get into a domestic dispute than an unmarried couple. But hey, who needs facts? There's a radical feminist agenda what needs pursuin'!
Activism/Chapters not
Will somebody in Korea or Nigeria please send a Christian missionary to UK to bring these people back into the fold.
Good Lord!
Are you sure this isnt from The Onion?
Good Grief! Calling God "he" encourages wife abuse? Does calling God "she" encourage husband abuse? Common sense be damned!
No wonder the mainline Protestant churches are crashing and burning! They've lost their moral bearing.
Oh, um, sister!
Slouching to 1984.
I hope the Lord God smites these heathen heretics with fire and brimstone.
In a loving, gender-neutral, nonjudgmental way of course.
Christianity has done more to improve conditions for women than any other religion.
When exactly did the Church of England cease to be a Christian denomination? Can someone help me on this?
2Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
2Cr 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Cr 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Cr 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you,
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1713175/posts
Faith Schools 'May (Must) Reject Christians' (UK)
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 10-3-2006 | Liz Lightfoot
Posted on 10/03/2006 8:10:15 PM CDT by blam
Children from Christian families may be turned away from popular Church of England schools to make way for non-believers and those of other faiths under a new quota system.
At least a quarter of places at all new Church of England schools will be set aside for other pupils, according to guidelines outlined by the Church yesterday. The reform of school admissions will also affect Roman Catholic schools which will in future need to prove that their intakes reflect the social nature of the areas from which they recruit.
The changes have been prompted by the Government's admission code going through Parliament.
It imposes a ban on the interviewing of pupils and requires faith schools to be more open about the criteria they use to measure religious commitment.
Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, praised the new arrangement, announced in a joint statement from the two churches, as a step forward for cohesion.
"A good education is one of the best ways of building understanding of the many issues that unite us as opposed to the views that divide," he said. "We want to preserve the special contribution faith schools make to raising educational standards and offering choice.
"Church of England schools have an excellent record of providing high quality education and serving disadvantaged communities and Catholic schools are among the most ethnically and socially diverse in the country."
About a third of all mainstream state schools have a religious character. Most of these are from the major Christian denominations, with 4,600 Church of England and 2,000 Catholic schools. The change will not apply to existing schools.
==>> The agreement follows a speech earlier this year by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in which he said there was need for a "clear public commitment" to integrate children of all faiths and guarantee places for local children. He said that in some areas, Muslim children were as likely as others to be educated in church schools because such institutions were trusted by minority religious communities.
The Government is encouraging faith groups to get more involved in state schools by sponsoring semi-independent academies and the new generation of trust schools. The Church has said some 200 new Anglican secondary school may be opened under the plans.
In other words, it undercuts the very raison d'etre of the Anglican Church. The next question which immediately suggests itself is "why should such a Church exist"?
That's a question that many Anglicans are clearly unable to answer, hence the inexorable decline of this denomination.
How to committ spiritual suicide in one easy lesson.
Is this even for real? While I've heard all the arguments about a chauvinist, patriarchal G-d, this one takes the cake. Where do these people get this stuff?
LOL!
Naaaaaah, that's just too easy. It takes real talent to come up with something THIS dumb.
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